Jim Abrahamson, Chair, CWT Travel Holdings
CWT parent company CWT Travel Holdings has appointed a new board of directors, chaired by former Interstate Hotels & Resorts chairman and IHG executive Jim Abrahamson.
The new board appointments follow CWT's 12 November exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy via a prepackaged filing that halved the travel management company's debt and will raise $350 million in new equity capital. The restructuring also ended Carlson Holdings majority control of CWT.
Besides Abrahamson, new CWT board members include:
• Alan Bowers, former president and CEO of staffing and IT provider Cape Success, as chair of the board's audit and finance committee.
• Ellen Keszler, president and CEO of travel and technology consulting firm Clear Sky Associates and former president of Travelocity Business, as chair of the board's HR and compensation committee.
• Former United Airlines and Hyatt Hotels executive Tom O'Toole, currently an associate dean and clinical professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, as chair of the board's nominating and environmental, social and governance committee.
• Former president and CEO of software company Mindflash Technologies Donna Wells, who has also been an executive with Charles Schwab, Intuit, Mint.com and American Express.
• Principal consultant and managing partner of business advisory group Utaza Theresa Wise, who was also Delta Air Lines' SVP and chief information officer until 2016.
CWT CEO Michelle McKinney Frymire is also serving on the board of directors. At The Beat Live earlier this month, she said CWT is now working to "accelerate all of the plans that we had been working on throughout the pandemic" with the restructuring approved.